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WO1999004011A2 - Antigenes du groupe o du vih-1 et leurs utilisations - Google Patents

Antigenes du groupe o du vih-1 et leurs utilisations Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1999004011A2
WO1999004011A2 PCT/EP1998/004522 EP9804522W WO9904011A2 WO 1999004011 A2 WO1999004011 A2 WO 1999004011A2 EP 9804522 W EP9804522 W EP 9804522W WO 9904011 A2 WO9904011 A2 WO 9904011A2
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
seq
hiv
antigen
group
fragment
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP1998/004522
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English (en)
Other versions
WO1999004011A3 (fr
Inventor
Eric Delaporte
Martine Peeters
Eric Saman
Marleen Vanden Haesevelde
Original Assignee
Innogenetics N.V.
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Publication date
Application filed by Innogenetics N.V. filed Critical Innogenetics N.V.
Priority to AU86320/98A priority Critical patent/AU754049B2/en
Priority to EP98937578A priority patent/EP1003878A2/fr
Priority to CA002296442A priority patent/CA2296442A1/fr
Priority to US09/462,917 priority patent/US6511801B1/en
Publication of WO1999004011A2 publication Critical patent/WO1999004011A2/fr
Publication of WO1999004011A3 publication Critical patent/WO1999004011A3/fr

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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K14/00—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
    • C07K14/005—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from viruses
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
    • C12N7/00—Viruses; Bacteriophages; Compositions thereof; Preparation or purification thereof
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
    • A61K39/00—Medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies
    • A61K2039/51—Medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies comprising whole cells, viruses or DNA/RNA
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
    • A61K39/00—Medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
    • C12N2740/00—Reverse transcribing RNA viruses
    • C12N2740/00011—Details
    • C12N2740/10011—Retroviridae
    • C12N2740/15011—Lentivirus, not HIV, e.g. FIV, SIV
    • C12N2740/15022—New viral proteins or individual genes, new structural or functional aspects of known viral proteins or genes
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
    • C12N2740/00—Reverse transcribing RNA viruses
    • C12N2740/00011—Details
    • C12N2740/10011—Retroviridae
    • C12N2740/16011—Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV
    • C12N2740/16021—Viruses as such, e.g. new isolates, mutants or their genomic sequences
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
    • C12N2740/00—Reverse transcribing RNA viruses
    • C12N2740/00011—Details
    • C12N2740/10011—Retroviridae
    • C12N2740/16011—Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV
    • C12N2740/16111—Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV concerning HIV env
    • C12N2740/16122—New viral proteins or individual genes, new structural or functional aspects of known viral proteins or genes
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S435/00—Chemistry: molecular biology and microbiology
    • Y10S435/974—Aids related test
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S435/00—Chemistry: molecular biology and microbiology
    • Y10S435/975—Kit
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S530/00—Chemistry: natural resins or derivatives; peptides or proteins; lignins or reaction products thereof
    • Y10S530/82—Proteins from microorganisms
    • Y10S530/826—Viruses

Definitions

  • HIV-1 group O antigens and uses thereof.
  • the current invention relates to new HIV-1 group O antigens, nucleic acids encoding them, and the use of said antigens and/or nucleic acids as reagents in the diagnosis and prophylaxes of ADDS. It also relates to new HIV-1 group O strains comprising these antigens.
  • HIV human immunodeficiency virus
  • ADDS acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
  • AIDS is usually associated with two distinct types of HTV: HIV-1 and HIV-2, initially described by Gallo et al. (1984) and Barre-Sinoussi et al. (1983) on the one hand, and Clavel et al. (1986) on the other hand.
  • both types, HIV-1 and HIV-2 cause a dysfunction of the immune system and induce similar clinical symptoms in infected persons, they are genetically distinct (Clavel et al. 1986) Epidemiological studies have shown that the prevalence of HIV-2 infection is confined mainly to West Africa, whereas HIV-1 infection is a world wide problem.
  • HIV-1 isolates have been obtained and sequenced from diverse geographical locations. At present, at least ten distinct subgroups or clades (A to J) of HIV-1 have been described, equidistantly related in phylogenetic analysis of the £ «v-and/or gag-gene (Kostrikis et al.1995; Louwagie et al. 1993; Myers et al 1995).
  • HIV-1 group O for "Outlier" strains have been described as divergent viruses, belonging to an independent cluster (Charneau et al. 1994;G ⁇ rtler et al. 1994; Myers et al 1995; Sharp et al. 1994; Vanden Haesevelde et al. 1996), when compared to the vast majority of worldwide HIV-1 strains classified as group M (for "Major”). Although these two groups of viruses share the same genomic structure, the elevated level of divergence between them supports the hypothesis of independent origins.
  • Group O infection is not restricted to Cameroon and its neighbouring countries, but it has also been documented in West, East, and Southern Africa (Peeters et al. 1996; Peeters et al. submitted). In addition, cases of group O infection have been described in several European countries (France, Spain, Germany, Norway) and in the USA (Centres for Disease control and Prevention 1996; Charneau et al. 1994; Hampl et al 1995; Soriano et al. 1996).
  • HIV-1 group O strains present a public health challenge since they are documented to give incomplete and atypical HIV-1 Western blot profiles (Charneau et al. 1994; Gurtler et al. 1994). Some commercially available ELISA or rapid tests were unable to detect HIV-antibodies in HIV-1 group O infected patients (Loussert-Ajaka et al 1994; Simon et al. 1994). The distribution of group O infections may be much more wide spread than currently thought, because of a lack of adequate detection techniques. Moreover, whereas HIV-1 group M strains have been extensively studied and characterized as to their genetic variability, there is at present no clear view on the genetic diversity of strains belonging to HIV-1 group O.
  • HIV-1 group O sequence information on the complete genome is only available for the prototype isolates of HIV-1 group O, namely ANT70 (Vanden Haesevelde et al. 1994), MVP- 5180 (G ⁇ rtler et al. 1994), and VAU (Charneau et al. 1994).
  • Some additional HIV-1 group O strains have been sequenced in the gag and env regions (for example WO 96/27013, WO 96/12809, EP 0727483).
  • HIV-viruses show a high degree of genetic variability. In the case of HIV-1 viruses it is more or less accepted that at least one nucleotide change occurs during one replication cycle. Certain regions of the genome, for example those encoding structurally or enzymatically important proteins, may be rather conserved, but other regions, especially the e «v-region, may be subject of very high genetic variability.
  • the envelope proteins of HTV are the viral proteins most accessible to immune attack, and much attention has been directed towards elucidating their structure and function.
  • the env gene encoding the envelope proteins consists of hypervariable sequences (V-regions) alternated by more constant regions (C-regions) (Starcich et al, 1986; Willey et al, 1986).
  • the envelope protein is first synthesized as a heavily glycosylated precursor protein (gpl60), which is later cleaved by a non-viral protease to generate a transmembrane protein, also referred to as gp41, and an outer surface protein often referred to as gpl20.
  • V3 hypervariable domain
  • PND principal neutralizing determinant
  • the V3 domain of HIV-1 contains a loop structure of 35 amino acids (V3-loop) which is formed by a cysteine-cysteine disulfide bridge (Leonard et al. 1990).
  • ID immunodominant domain
  • HIV-viruses For HIV-viruses, this domain has been divided in two distinct regions, corresponding to an immunosuppressive peptide (ISU) of about 17 aa, and a cysteine loop being the principal immunodominant domain (PID).
  • ISU immunosuppressive peptide
  • PID principal immunodominant domain
  • HIV-1 group M HIV-1 group M
  • HIV-1 group O HIV-1 group O
  • nucleic acid and peptide sequences originating from HIV-1 group O strains It is more specifically the aim of the current invention to provide nucleic acid and peptide sequences corresponding to the env-region of new HIV-1 group O strains, more particularly corresponding to the gpl ⁇ O e «v-precursor protein region, and most particularly to the C2V3 region and the gp41 region.
  • nucleic acids derived from said new HIV-1 group O strains It is also an aim of the current invention to provide for nucleic acids derived from said new HIV-1 group O strains. It is also an aim of the present invention to provide antibodies reacting specifically with the antigens from the new HIV-1 group O strains.
  • polynucleic acid corresponds to either double-stranded or single-stranded cDNA or genomic DNA or RNA containing at least 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 contiguous nucleotides. Single stranded polynucleic acid sequences are always represented in the current invention from the 5' end to the 3' end.
  • Polynucleic acids according to the invention may be prepared by any method known in the art for preparing polynucleic acids (e.g. the phosphodiester method for synthesizing oligonucleotides as described by Agarwal et al. (1972), the phosphotriester method of Hsiung et al.
  • polynucleic acids of the invention may be isolated fragments of naturally occurring or cloned DNA cDNA or RNA.
  • oligonucleotide refers to a single stranded nucleic acid comprising two or more nucleotides, and less than 100 nucleotides. The exact size of an oligonucleotide depends on the ultimate function or use of said oligonucleotide. For use as a probe or primer the oligonucleotides are preferably about 5-50 nucleotides long, more preferably 10-30 nucleotides long.
  • the oligonucleotides according to the present invention can be formed by cloning of recombinant plasmids containing inserts including the corresponding nucleotide sequences, if need be by cleaving the latter out from the cloned plasmids upon using the adequate nucleases and recovering them, e.g. by fractionation according to molecular weight.
  • the probes according to the present invention can also be synthesized chemically, e.g. by automatic synthesis on commercial instruments sold by a variety of manufacturers.
  • nucleotides as used in the present invention may be ribonucleotides, deoxyribonucleotides and modified nucleotides such as inosine or nucleotides containing modified groups which do not essentially alter their hybridisation characteristics.
  • any of the below-specified probes can be used as such, or in their complementary form, or in their RNA form (wherein T is replaced by U).
  • oligonucleotides used as primers or probes may also comprise or consist of nucleotide analogues such as phosphorothioates (Matsukura et al., 1987), alkylphosphorothioiates (Miller et al., 1979) or peptide nucleic acids (Nielsen et al., 1991; Nielsen et al., 1993) or may contain intercalating agents (Asseline et al., 1984).
  • nucleotide analogues such as phosphorothioates (Matsukura et al., 1987), alkylphosphorothioiates (Miller et al., 1979) or peptide nucleic acids (Nielsen et al., 1991; Nielsen et al., 1993) or may contain intercalating agents (Asseline et al., 1984).
  • probe refers to single stranded sequence-specific oligonucleotides which have a sequence which is sufficiently complementary to hybridize to the target sequence to be detected. Preferably said probes are 90%, 95% or more homologous to the exact complement of the target sequence to be detected.
  • target sequences may be genomic DNA, genomic RNA or messenger RNA, or amplified versions thereof.
  • hybridizes to refers to preferably stringent hybridization conditions, allowing hybridisation between sequences showing at least 90%, 95% or more homology with each other.
  • primer refers to a single stranded DNA oligonucleotide sequence capable of acting as a point of initiation for synthesis of a primer extension product which is complementary to the nucleic acid strand to be copied.
  • the length and the sequence of the primer must be such that they allow to prime the synthesis of the extension products.
  • the primer is about 5-50 nucleotides long. Specific length and sequence will depend on the complexity of the required DNA or RNA targets, as well as on the conditions of primer use such as temperature and ionic strength. The fact that amplification primers do not have to match exactly with the corresponding template sequence to warrant proper amplification is amply documented in the literature (Kwok et al., 1990).
  • the amplification method used can be either polymerase chain reaction (PCR; Saiki et al., 1988), ligase chain reaction (LCR; Landgren et al., 1988; Wu & Wallace, 1989; Barany, 1991), nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA; Guatelli et al., 1990; Compton, 1991), transcription-based amplification system (TAS; Kwoh et al., 1989), strand displacement amplification (SDA; Duck, 1990; Walker et al., 1992) or amplification by means of Q ⁇ replicase (Lizardi et al., 1988; Lomeli et al., 1989) or any other suitable method to amplify nucleic acid molecules.
  • PCR polymerase chain reaction
  • LCR Landgren et al., 1988; Wu & Wallace, 1989
  • NASBA nucleic acid sequence-based amplification
  • TAS transcription-based amplification system
  • SDA strand displacement amplification
  • nucleic acid sequences can form a perfect base paired double helix with each other.
  • polypeptide and “peptide” are used interchangeably throughout the specification and designate a linear series of amino acids connected one to the other by peptide bonds between the alpha-amino and carboxy groups of adjacent amino acids.
  • the peptides of the invention are less than 100 amino acids in length, more preferably less than 50, and even less than 30 amino acids long.
  • amino acid sequences contain acidic and basic groups, and that the particular ionization state exhibited by the peptide is dependent on the pH of the surrounding medium when the protein is in solution, or that of the medium from which it was obtained if the protein is in solid form.
  • proteins modified by additional substituents attached to the amino acids side chains such as glycosyl units, lipids, or inorganic ions such as phosphates, as well as modifications relating to chemical conversions of the chains, such as oxidation of sulfhydryl groups.
  • polypeptide or its equivalent terms is intended to include the appropriate amino acid sequence referenced, subject to those of the foregoing modifications which do not destroy its functionality.
  • polypeptides of the invention can be prepared by classical chemical synthesis.
  • the synthesis can be carried out in homogeneous solution or in solid phase.
  • polypeptides of the invention can also be prepared in solid phase according to the methods described by Atherton and Shepard in their book entitled “Solid phase peptide synthesis"
  • polypeptides according to this invention can also be prepared by means of recombinant DNA techniques as described by Maniatis et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, New York, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1982). In that case the polypeptides are obtained as expression products of the nucleic acids encoding said polypeptides.
  • the expression occurs in a suitable host cell (eukaryotic or prokaryotic) which has been transformed with a vector in which the nucleic acid encoding the polypeptide has been inserted (called "insert").
  • the nucleic acid insert may have been obtained through classical genomic cloning techniques (screening of genomic libraries, shotgun cloning etc.), or by amplification of the relevant part in the viral genome, using suitable primer pairs and, for example, the polymerase chain reaction, or by DNA synthesis.
  • the word "antigen” refers to a molecule which provokes an immune response (also called
  • antigen or which can be recognized by the immune system (also called “antigen sensu strictu”).
  • the immune response or the immune recognition reaction can be of the cellular or humoral type.
  • the antigens of the current invention are all polypeptides or peptides, and therefore, the words “antigen” and “(poly)peptide” may be used interchangeably throughout the current invention.
  • antigenic determinant or “epitope” refers to that portion of an antigenic molecule that is specifically bound by an antibody combining site. Epitopes may be determined by any of the techniques known in the art or may be predicted by a variety of computer prediction models known from the art.
  • homologous and “homology” are used in the current invention as synonyms for "identical” and “identity”; this means that amino acid sequences which are e.g. said to be 55% homologous, show 55% identical amino acids in the same position upon alignment of the sequences.
  • homologous nucleic acid sequences i.e. nucleic acid sequences which are e.g. said to be 55% homologous, show 55% identical base pairs in the same position upon alignment of the sequences.
  • the present invention provides for an antigen, derived from the gpl60-e/?v precursor protein of a new HIV-1 group O strain, and characterized by an amino acid sequence comprising at least one of the following sequences:
  • MGIGQE SEQ ID NO 67
  • SVQELRI SEQ ID NO 68
  • SVQEIPI (SEQ ID NO 136), and/or at least one amino acid sequence chosen from the following group of sequences RNQQLLNLWGCKGRLIC (SEQ ID NO 71),
  • CKGKMIC SEQ ID NO 81
  • CKGRWC SEQ ID NO 82
  • a fragment of said antigen said fragment consisting of at least 8, preferably 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
  • the term "derived from” signifies that the antigen contains a fragment of the gpl60 env precursor protein.
  • This preferential reaction may be measured quantitatively (e.g. ELISA absorption values) and should result in reactivity values which are at least 20%, 30%, 40% and preferably 50% higher than the reactivity with the control antigen.
  • this means that the selected fragments of the above-mentioned antigens will always show at least one amino acid difference when compared in an alignment with the sequence of corresponding antigens of other
  • HIV-1 group O isolates such as ANT70, MVP5180, VAU or others.
  • amino acid sequences SEQ ID NO 53 to 70 and 136 originate from the central region in the V3 loop of the gpl60-e «v precursor protein of new HIV-1 group O strains, while the amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 71-77 and 79-82 originate from the gp41 -principal immunodominant domain (PID) of the gp 160-env precursor protein of the same HIV-1 group O strains.
  • PID gp41 -principal immunodominant domain
  • the current invention also provides for antigens consisting of any of the amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 53-70, 136, 71-77, 79-82, or consisting of an amino acid sequence according to any of SEQ ID NO 53-70, 136, 71-77, 79-82, whereby said sequence is extended at its N-terminal and/or C-terminal end with at least 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, up to
  • the invention further provides for an antigen as described above, characterized by an amino acid sequence comprising at least one of the following amino acid sequences: CERPGNNSIQQMKIGPLAWYSMGLERNKSSISRLAYC (SEQ ED NO 83), CERPGNNSIQQMKIGPMAWYSMGLERNKSSISRLAYC (SEQ ID NO 84),
  • CERPGNQSVQEIKIGPMAWYSIGIGTTPANWSRIAYC SEQ ID NO 85
  • CERPGNQSVQEIKIGPMAWYSIGIGTTPTYNWSRIAYC SEQ ID NO 86
  • CERPGNHTVQQMKIGPMSWYSMGLEKNNTSSRRAFC (SEQ ID NO 90), CERTWNQS VQEIPIGPMAWYSMS VELDLNTTGSRS ADC (SEQ ID NO 135), and/or at least one amino acid sequence chosen from the following group of sequences: DQQLLNLWGCKGRIVC YTS VKWN (SEQ LD NO 91 ),
  • NQQLLNLWGCKGRLVCYTSVKWNK (SEQ ID NO 92), NQQLLNLWGCKGRLVCYTSVKWNN (SEQ ID NO 138),
  • NQQRLNLWGCKGKMICYTSVKWN SEQ ID NO 96
  • NQQLLNLWGCKGNLIC YTS VKWN SEQ ID NO 97
  • NQQLLNSWGCKGKIVCYTAVKWN SEQ ID NO 101
  • NQQLLSLWGCKGKLICYTSVKWN SEQ ID NO 102
  • NQQLLNLWGCKGRLVC YTS VQWN SEQ ID NO 137
  • SEQ ID NO 137 a fragment of said antigen, said fragment consisting of at least 8, preferably 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 50 up to the maximum number of contiguous amino acids of the amino acid sequence of said antigen, and being characterized by the fact that it specifically reacts with antibodies raised against said antigen.
  • amino acid sequences SEQ ED NO 83 to 90 and 135 represent the V3 loop region of the gpl60-env precursor protein of new HIV-1 group O strains, while the amino acid sequences SEQ ID NO 91 to 102, 137 and 138 originate from the gp41- immunodominant domain (ID) of the gpl60- env precursor protein of the same HIV-1 group O strains.
  • ID immunodominant domain
  • the current invention also provides for antigens consisting of any of the amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 83-102, 135, 137 and 138 or consisting of an amino acid sequence according to any of SEQ ID NO 83-102, 135, 137 and 138, whereby said sequence is extended at its N-terminal and/or C-terminal end with at least 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, up to 15 amino acids.
  • the invention further provides for antigens as above-defined, characterized by an amino acid sequence comprising at least one of the amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 2, SEQ ID NO 4, SEQ ID NO 6, SEQ ID NO 8, SEQ ID NO 10, SEQ ID NO 12, SEQ ID NO
  • SEQ ID NO 16 SEQ ID NO 18, SEQ ID NO 20, SEQ ID NO 22, SEQ ID NO 24, SEQ ID NO 26, SEQ K) NO 28, SEQ LD NO 30, SEQ ID NO 32, SEQ ID NO 34, SEQ ID NO 36, SEQ ID NO 38, SEQ ID NO 40 as shown in the alignment on Figure 1, and/or at least one of the amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 42, SEQ ID NO 44, SEQ ID NO 46, SEQ ID NO 48, SEQ ID NO 50, or SEQ ID NO 52 as shown in the alignment on Figure 2, and/or the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 134, or a fragment of said antigen, said fragment consisting of at least 8, preferably 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 50 up to the maximum number of contiguous amino acids of any of the sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 2, SEQ ED NO 4, SEQ ID NO 6, SEQ LD NO 8, SEQ LD NO 10, SEQ ID NO 12, SEQ ID NO 14, SEQ LD NO 16, S
  • SEQ ID NO 134 with said antigen fragment characterized by the fact that it specifically reacts with antibodies raised against the antigen from which it is derived.
  • the invention provides for an antigen as above-defined, characterized by an amino acid sequence consisting of at least one of the following sequences: SEQ ID NO 2, SEQ ID NO 4, SEQ ID NO 6, SEQ ro NO 8, SEQ ro NO 10, SEQ ID NO 12, SEQ ID NO 14, SEQ
  • SEQ ID NO 16 SEQ ID NO 18, SEQ ID NO 20, SEQ ED NO 22, SEQ ID NO 24, SEQ ID NO 26, SEQ ED NO 28, SEQ ID NO 30, SEQ ID NO 32, SEQ ED NO 34, SEQ ID NO 36, SEQ ID NO 38, SEQ ED NO 40, SEQ ID NO 42, SEQ ED NO 44, SEQ ID NO 46, SEQ ID NO 48, SEQ ID NO 50, SEQ ID NO 52, or the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 134 or a fragment of said antigen, said fragment consisting of at least 8, preferably 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,
  • SEQ ID NO 2 SEQ ID NO 4
  • SEQ ID NO 6 SEQ ID NO 8
  • SEQ ID NO 10 SEQ ro NO 12
  • SEQ ID NO 14 SEQ ID NO 16
  • SEQ ID NO 18 SEQ ro NO 20
  • SEQ ED NO 22 SEQ ED NO 24
  • SEQ ID NO 30 SEQ ID NO 32
  • SEQ ED NO 34 SEQ ID NO 36, SEQ ID NO 38, SEQ LD NO 40
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 2, 4, 42, 73, 59, 60, 61, 73, 85, 86, 100 originate from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed MP340, or a quasi-species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 6, 8, 44, 56, 57, 58, 82, 83, 84, 138 originate from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed FAB A, or alternatively termed MP331, or a quasi-species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 10, 12, 46, 62, 63, 64, 73, 87, 100 originate from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed MP450, or a quasi-species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 14, 16, 48, 65, 66, 67, 76, 88, 101 originate from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed MP448, or a quasi species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 18, 50, 53, 54, 55, 73, 90, 91 originate from the gp 160 env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV- 1 group O strain termed 189, or a quasi-species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 40, 52, 68, 69, 70, 71, 89, 95 originate from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed MP539, or a quasi-species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 20 and 92 originate from the g ⁇ l60 env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed 320, or a quasi-species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 22, 80 and 97 originate from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed BSD422, or a quasi - species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 24, 79 and 99 originate from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed KGT008, or a quasi- species thereof.
  • amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 26 originates from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed MP575, or a quasi-species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ LD NO 28, 72 and 95 originate from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed BSD 189, or a quasi- species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 30, 77 and 98 originate from the gp 60 env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed BSD649, or a quasi- species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 32, 81 and 96 originate from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed BSD242, or a quasi- species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 34, 81 and 93 originate from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed 533, or a quasi-species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 36, 75 and 94 originate from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed 772P94, or a quasi- species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 38, 74 and 102 originate from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed MP95B, or a quasi- species thereof.
  • amino acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 134, 135, 136, and 137 originate from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor antigen isolated from a HIV-1 group O strain termed MP645, or a quasi-species thereof.
  • amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 73 is characteristic for the gp41 immunodominant region of at least the following new HIV-1 group O strains:
  • the current invention therefore specifically relates to ewv-derived antigens comprising the characteristic sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 73, as well as virus strains containing these antigens.
  • amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 81 is characteristic for the gp41 immunodominant region of at least the following new HIV-1 group O strains: BSD242 and 533.
  • the current invention therefore specifically relates to e «v-derived antigens comprising the characteristic sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 81, as well as virus strains containing these antigens.
  • amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 95 is characteristic for the gp41 immunodominant region of at least the following new HIV-1 group O strains: MP539 and BSD189.
  • the current invention therefore specifically relates to e «v-derived antigens comprising the characteristic sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 95, as well as virus strains containing these antigens.
  • quadsi-species refers in general to the group of related but genetically and possibly biologically different viruses (also called “variants”) that an infected individual harbors.
  • the term "related” means that the "variants” all arise from a single infectious agent, in this case from a single HIV-1 group O strain. It has been calculated that an HIV-infected patient carries about 10 6 to 10 s genetically distinct HIV- variants, which are generated by the high error rate of reverse transcriptase and the high turnover rate in vivo.
  • the term "quasi-species” refers also to a strain isolated from the quasi-species "group” as above- defined.
  • the term "genetically different” means that the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of one strain shows at least one nucleotide difference with the corresponding sequence of another strain belonging to the same quasi-species.
  • biologically different means that some strains of a quasi-species may have different biological characteristics compared to the biological characteristics of other strains from the same quasi-species. These biological characteristics may encompass for example the HIV-1 cell tropism, viral virulence, the capacity to induce syncytia, etc.
  • Nucleic acid sequences originating from quasi-species differ from each other but always show a high percentage of homology, most often a homology of 90%, 95% or higher. The same holds for the sequence of polypeptides originating from quasi-species. Homology percentages on the protein level usually exceed 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or even 99%. These percentages of homology count for the comparison of sequence stretches which are at least 100 nucleotides (about 33 amino acids), and preferably 200, 300 or more nucleotides long (66, 100 or more amino acids). It has to be understood that, when very short sequence stretches are compared (e.g. stretches of about 30 nucleotides, or 10 amino acids) the homology ranges may be much lower, if these short sequence stretches contain the mutual differences.
  • sequences originating from "quasi-species” are provided further in the examples section, where gp41- and C2V3- nucleotide and amino acid sequences of certain strains belonging to the same "quasi-species" are compared to each other.
  • gp41- and C2V3- nucleotide and amino acid sequences of certain strains belonging to the same "quasi-species” are compared to each other.
  • gp41 -nucleic acid sequences have been determined on different samples, originating from the same patient, i.e. on serum samples and on peripheral blood monocyte (PBMC) samples.
  • PBMC peripheral blood monocyte
  • Table 2 shows that, in these specific examples, homology percentages vary from 95% to 100% between gp41 -nucleic acid sequences determined on serum samples as compared to PBMC-samples.
  • amino acid and nucleic acid sequences of the current invention also encompass those sequences which are not explicitly recited, but which have been determined on "quasi-species" of the respective viral strains. As indicated above, these "variant" sequences show a homology range of at least 90%, preferably 95% with the sequences which are specifically recited in the current application.
  • the above-mentioned antigens are polypeptide or peptide molecules, which are characterized by the above-mentioned amino acid sequences. It has to be understood however, that these (poly)peptides may be modified by for example glycosylation, side chain oxidation or phosphorylation as explained above.
  • a very particular type of side chain oxidation is cyclisation by bridge formation between the -SH groups of two cysteine residues in the same (poly)peptide chain.
  • the cyclic (poly)peptides formed in this way by S-S bridging may be particularly suitable to expose epitopes located in the loop structure. Epitopes presented in this manner may be in a better shape to be recognized by the immune system, and more particularly by antibodies possibly present in the serum of HIV-infected persons.
  • a preferential embodiment of the current invention provides for any of Lhe above- mentioned (poly)peptides in a cyclic form.
  • Cyclisation may occur between two cysteine residues which are present in the above-cited amino acid sequences.
  • cyclic peptides with a loop structure of about 6 amino acids long may be formed with the amino acid sequences represented by e.g. SEQ ID NO 71 to 82, and 91 to 102, and 137.
  • V3-loop peptides of about 35 amino acids long may be formed by cyclisation of the cysteine residues of the amino acid sequences represented by e.g. SEQ ID NO 83 to 90, and 135.
  • cyclisation may also be induced in amino acid sequences which do not contain two cysteine residues naturally, but which have been extended with one or two cysteine residues at their extremities, or at in internal position inside the amino acid chain.
  • the current invention therefore also refers to (poly)peptides characterized by any of the above-mentioned amino acid sequences, modified by addition of one or several cysteine residues, at the C-terminal and/or N-terminal extremity and/or inside the (poly)peptide chain.
  • Another particular type of modification includes the extension of the N-terminal and/or C-terminal end of the (poly)peptide antigen by linker sequences, said linker sequences comprising for example additional amino acids or other molecules (such as for example biotin).
  • linker sequences comprising for example additional amino acids or other molecules (such as for example biotin).
  • the addition of linker sequences to the polypeptide antigen may have several advantages such as:
  • a preferential embodiment therefore includes antigens or antigen fragments comprising any of the above-mentioned amino acid sequences, extended with linker sequences.
  • the above-mentioned (poly)peptide antigens of the invention may be prepared by different methods known in the art. They may be prepared by synthetic means as described above, or they may be produced by recombinant DNA technology. In the latter case, they are the result of the expression of the nucleic acids encoding said antigens or antigen fragments in an appropriate host cell.
  • the invention also relates to a recombinant vector for the expression of any of the above- mentioned polypeptides, recombinant host cells expresssing these polypeptides, and processes for the recombinant expression of these polypeptides; said tools for recombinant expression are well known by anyone skilled in the art, and have been described in more detail for example in WO96/13590.
  • the invention further provides for a (poly)nucleic acid encoding any of the above- mentioned (poly)peptide antigens.
  • the current invention provides for a polynucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence chosen from the group of
  • SEQ ID NO 19 SEQ ID NO 21, SEQ ID NO 23, SEQ ID NO 25, SEQ ID NO 27, SEQ ID NO 29, SEQ ro NO 31, SEQ ED NO 33, SEQ ID NO 35, SEQ ID NO 37, SEQ ID NO 39, SEQ ID NO 41, SEQ ID NO 43, SEQ ID NO 45, SEQ ID NO 47, SEQ ID NO 49, or SEQ ID NO 51, SEQ ED NO 106 or (ii) a nucleotide sequence complementary to a sequence according to (I), or
  • nucleic acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37 and 39 correspond to the region encoding the gp41 -immunodominant domain in the e «v-gene, while the nucleic acid sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 41, 43, 45,
  • nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 106 is illustrated in figure 8 A, and comprises the full e «v-gene of a new HIV-1 group O strain, termed MP645, together with additional accompanying genes.
  • the nucleotide sequences mentioned above under item (iii) represent variant nucleic acid sequences which may be isolated e.g. from strains belonging to the same quasi-species.
  • the invention provides for a polynucleic acid consisting of a nucleotide sequence chosen from the group of (I) a nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ro NO 1, SEQ ED NO 3, SEQ ro NO 5, SEQ ID NO 7, SEQ ID NO 9, SEQ ID NO 11, SEQ ID NO 13, SEQ ID NO 15, SEQ ro NO 17, SEQ ro NO 19, SEQ K) NO 21, SEQ ED NO 23, SEQ HD NO 25, SEQ ID NO 27, SEQ ID NO 29, SEQ ID NO 31, SEQ ID NO 33, SEQ ID NO 35, SEQ ID NO 37, SEQ ID NO 39, SEQ ED NO 41, SEQ ID NO 43, SEQ ED NO 45, SEQ ID NO 47, SEQ ID NO 49, or SEQ ID NO 51, SEQ ro NO 106 or
  • nucleotide sequence complementary to a sequence according to (I), or ( ⁇ i) a nucleotide sequence showing at least 95%, preferably 96%, 97%, 98% and most preferably
  • nucleic acid fragment consisting of a sequence of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 up to 50 contiguous nucleotides of the sequence of a polynucleic acid as specified above, and characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid from which it is derived.
  • nucleic acid fragment may be used as a specific hybridization probe for the detection of the nucleic acids of the current invention.
  • selective hybridizing means that the hybridization signal obtained after hybridization of the fragment with the nucleic acid from which it is derived, is more intense than the hybridization signal obtained when the fragment is hybridized to the corresponding nucleic acid from another HIV-1 group O strain, under the same stringent hybridization and wash conditions. In practice this means that the nucleic acid fragment will show at least one mismatched nucleotide with the sequence of the corresponding nucleic acid fragment of another HIV-1 group O strain.
  • the invention further provides for a nucleic acid fragment consisting of a sequence of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 up to 50 contiguous nucleotides of the sequence of a polynucleic acid as specified above, and characterized by the fact that it selectively amplifies the polynucleic acid from which it is derived.
  • the nucleic acid fragment as described above may be used as a specific amplification primer of the nucleic acids of the current invention.
  • selective amplification refers to the fact that said nucleic acid fragment may initiate a specific amplification reaction of the nucleic acids of the invention (e.g. a polymerase chain reaction) in the presence of other nucleic acids, under appropriate amplification conditions.
  • nucleic acids of the invention will be amplified, and not the other nucleic acids possibly present.
  • Preferred embodiments of the invention comprise polynucleic acids or fragments thereof as specified below.
  • said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid consisting of SEQ ID NO 25.
  • a polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 33 or a fragment consisting of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 up to 50 contiguous nucleotides of said polynucleic acid, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 33.
  • a polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 35 or a fragment consisting of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 up to 50 contiguous nucleotides of said polynucleic acid, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 35.
  • a polynucleic acid consisting of SEQ ED NO 37 or a fragment comprising at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 50 up to the maximum number of contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO 37, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid consisting of SEQ ID NO 37.
  • a polynucleic acid consisting of SEQ ED NO 39 or a fragment comprising at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,50 up to the maximum number of contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO 39, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid consisting of SEQ ID NO 39.
  • a polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 41 or a fragment consisting of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 up to 50 contiguous nucleotides of said polynucleic acid, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 41.
  • a polynucleic acid consisting of SEQ ED NO 43 or a fragment comprising at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 50 up to the maximum number of contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO 43, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid consisting of SEQ ID NO 43.
  • a polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 45 or a fragment consisting of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 up to 50 contiguous nucleotides of said polynucleic acid, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 45.
  • a polynucleic acid consisting of SEQ ID NO 47 or a fragment comprising at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 50 up to the maximum number of contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO 47, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid consisting of SEQ ED NO 47.
  • a polynucleic acid consisting of SEQ ID NO 49 or a fragment comprising at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 50 up to the maximum number of contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ED NO 49, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid consisting of SEQ ID NO 49.
  • a polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 106 or a fragment consisting of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 up to 50 contiguous nucleotides of said polynucleic acid, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 106.
  • a polynucleic acid consisting of SEQ ID NO 106 or a fragment comprising at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 50 up to the maximum number of contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO 106, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid consisting of SEQ ID NO 106.
  • the invention further provides for a virus strain belonging to HIV-1 group O, comprising in its genome any of the above-mentioned nucleic acids.
  • the invention provides for a virus strain belonging to HIV-1 group O, comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of - one of the DNA sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 1, SEQ ID NO 3, SEQ ID NO 5, SEQ ro NO 7, SEQ ro NO 9, SEQ ID NO 11, SEQ ro NO 13, SEQ ID NO 15, SEQ ro NO 17, SEQ
  • SEQ ID NO 31 SEQ ID NO 33, SEQ ID NO 35, SEQ ro NO 37, SEQ ro NO 39, SEQ ro NO
  • variant sequence of the above-mentioned DNA sequences said variant sequence showing at least 95% homology with the entire length of one of the above-mentioned sequences.
  • the invention relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above, comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO
  • FAB A HIV-1 group O strain of this type
  • SEQ ID NO 7 An example of a variant sequence of SEQ ID NO 5 is SEQ ID NO 7.
  • the latter sequence was determined on a serum sample of a patient infected by the strain FAB A, while the former sequence was determined on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC's) taken from the same patient.
  • PBMC's peripheral blood mononuclear cells
  • the nucleic acids represented by SEQ ID NO 5 and SEQ ID NO 7 show 95% homology, and can be said to belong to strains from the same quasi-species.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above, comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 9 and/or SEQ
  • An fflV-1 group O strain of this type termed MP450, has been deposited at the ECACC on June 13, 1997 under accession No. V97061302.
  • SEQ ID NO 11 An example of a variant sequence of SEQ ED NO 9 is SEQ ID NO 11.
  • the latter sequence was determined on a serum sample of a patient infected by the strain MP450, while the former sequence was determined on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC's) taken from the same patient.
  • PBMC's peripheral blood mononuclear cells
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above, comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 39 and/or SEQ ED NO 51 or a variant sequence, said variant sequence showing at least 95% homology with SEQ ED NO 39 and/or SEQ ID NO 51.
  • An HIV-1 group O strain of this type termed MP539, has been deposited at the ECACC on June 13, 1997 under accession NO.V97061303.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ED NO
  • a strain of this type is termed MP340 throughout this invention.
  • SEQ ID NO 3 An example of a variant sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 is SEQ ID NO 3.
  • the latter sequence was determined on a serum sample of a patient infected by the strain MP340, while the former sequence was determined on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC's) taken from the same patient.
  • PBMC's peripheral blood mononuclear cells
  • the nucleic acids represented by SEQ ID NO 1 and SEQ ID NO 3 show 99% homology, and can be said to belong to strains from the same quasi-species.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO
  • a strain of this type is termed MP448 throughout this invention.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 17 and/or SEQ ID NO 49 or a variant sequence, said variant sequence showing at least 95% homology with SEQ ID NO 17 and/or SEQ ID NO 49.
  • a strain of this type is termed 189 throughout this invention.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 19 or a variant sequence showing at least 95% homology with SEQ ID NO 19.
  • a strain of this type is termed 320 throughout this invention.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO
  • a strain of this type is termed BSD422 throughout this invention.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO
  • a strain of this type is termed KGT008 throughout this invention.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO
  • a strain of this type termed MP575
  • MP575 has been deposited at the ECACC on July 13, 1998, under provisional accession No. V98071301.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO
  • a strain of this type is termed BSD 189 throughout this invention.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO
  • a strain of this type is termed BSD649 throughout this invention.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 31 or a variant sequence showing at least 95% homology with SEQ ID NO 31.
  • a strain of this type is termed BSD242 throughout this invention.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 33 or a variant sequence showing at least 95% homology with SEQ ID NO 33.
  • a strain of this type is termed 533 throughout this invention.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 35 or a variant sequence showing at least 95% homology with SEQ ID NO 35.
  • a strain of this type is termed 772. P94 throughout this invention.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO
  • a strain of this type is termed MP95B throughout this invention.
  • the invention also relates to a strain of HIV-1 group O as defined above comprising in its genome the RNA equivalent of the DNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO 106 or a variant sequence showing at least 95% homology with SEQ ID NO 106.
  • a strain of this type termed MP645, has been deposited at the ECACC on July 13, 1998, under provisional accession No. V98071302
  • Another embodiment of the current invention provides for a nucleic acid molecule isolated from any of the E V-1 group O strains as defined above.
  • the current invention provides for an antigen or antigen fragment isolated from any of the HIV-1 group O strains as defined above.
  • the current invention also provides for nucleic acid sequences and antigen sequences which are contained in the above-mentioned new HIV-1 group O viral strains, and which extend beyond the explicitly cited sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 1 to 102, 106, 135 to 138.
  • SEQ ID NO 1 to 102, 106, 135 to 138 The person skilled in the art will realize that, starting from the partial sequences disclosed above, it is perfectly possible to obtain the complete genomic information of the respective viruses, by standard cloning methods such as the construction of a cDNA library or the construction of a genomic library or by the technique of the polymerase chain reaction. Sometimes a combination of these methods may be necessary to obtain the sequence of the full genome. The following describes the strategies which may be followed to obtain additional genomic sequence information on HIV-1 group O strains, of which partial sequences have been disclosed above.
  • HIV-1 group O viruses are propagated and isolated using standard methods e.g. by cultivation of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBMC) from the HIV-infected individual together with stimulated lymphocytes from healthy donors, or alternatively by infecting cell lines with the virus in a permanent way. Once virus is detected in the culture supernatant using standard techniques (e.g. measuring reverse transcriptase activity; measuring p24 antigen...), virus is harvested from the culture supernantant by centrifugation under conditions where the virus is pelleted. RNA is obtained by disrupting the virus in a buffer containing 6M guanidinium chloride and the RNA is pelleted through a 5.5M CsCl cushion.
  • PBMC peripheral blood lymphocytes
  • RNA is obtained by disrupting the virus in a buffer containing 6M guanidinium chloride and the RNA is pelleted through a 5.5M CsCl cushion.
  • RNA which is resuspended in a suitable buffer is then phenolized and precipitated with e.g. ethanol and lithium chloride.
  • cDNA synthesis is performed on the complete RNA or part of the RNA using commercially available kits. OligodT primers, random primers, or HIV-1 specific primers may be used to prime the cDNA synthesis which is done by a reverse transcriptase (RT) enzyme.
  • RT reverse transcriptase
  • the resulting cDNA is ligated to linkers which contain an appropriate restriction site.
  • the cDNA of suitable size is isolated (e.g. from agarose gel after electrophoresis) and ligated in a suitable vector.
  • the vector containing the cDNA fragments can be propagated in competent E. coli cells using standard methods.
  • Various techniques to screen for colonies containing HIV-1 specific sequences are known in the art. They involve screening of e.g. a cDNA expression library (e.g. ⁇ gtl l) with serum (polyclonal or monoclonal serum) or the screening of a cDNA library with 32 P labelled HIV-1 DNA fragments under non-stringent or stringent hybridization conditions.
  • Background signals are lowered by washing the filters subsequently under more stringent conditions.
  • the fragment is isolated from the plasmid and is introduced (as a complete entity or a fragment thereof) in expression vectors. Using standard techniques, these vectors produce the protein(s) encoded by the inserted DNA fragment. The resulting proteins is further purified and used for the development of diagnostic assays. Sequence information of the virus is obtained from the plasmid containing viral DNA sequences.
  • Chromosomal DNA is prepared from cells infected with the HIV-1 group O virus (e.g. cells permanently producing the virus) using standard techniques (Maniatis et al. 1982). This DNA may be used to construct a genomic library (Zabarousky and Allikmets 1986).
  • the chromosomal DNA which contains the proviral HIV-1 group O DNA is partially digested with a selected restriction enzyme. Fragments between 9Kb and 23 Kb, isolated on a 40%- 10% sucrose gradient, are manipulated according to standard techniques in order to introduce them in a vector system suitable for the cloning of long DNA fragments e.g. lambda derived vectors or cosmids.
  • the vector with the DNA fragment is introduced in a suitable E.
  • Plaques or colonies from the genomic library are transferred to nylon or nitrocellulose membranes and screened with enzyme or 32 P labelled DNA fragments of the viral genome (plaque or colony screening) under non-stringent or stringent hybridization conditions. Colonies or plaques displaying positive signals are purified from other colonies or plaques.
  • the viral DNA is further subcloned and sequenced. Genes or fragments of genes are further manipulated using standard techniques in order to express important viral proteins or epitopes which may be used for the development of diagnostic assays.
  • PCR Polymerase chain reaction
  • HIV-1 group O viral DNA fragments may also be obtained using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (Kwok et al. 1987) which is a standard technology used for the cloning of DNA fragments.
  • PCR may be performed on cellular DNA of cells infected with the virus or on cDNA obtained from viral RNA derived from virus culture, lymphocytes, serum, plasma, ....
  • the PCR may use primers which contain specific sequences of the virus based on sequences of the virus which are already known, or alternatively, primers which contain sequences derived from related viruses in regions known to be conserved or not conserved among HIV variants. Annealing conditions of the primers should preferentially not be too stringent (e.g.
  • the resulting amplification product is subsequently sequenced and new primers are designed based on the newly generated sequence in order to further amplify the viral DNA, again eventually in combination with primers derived from the partially determined sequence of the isolate or from the sequence of related viruses.
  • Example 4 provides the cloning and sequencing strategy followed in order to obtain the polynucleic acid sequences encoding the antigens Vif, Pol, Vpr, Tat (1st exon), Vpu, Rev (1st exon) and gpl ⁇ O, or fragments thereof, from the HIV-1 group O viruses FAB A (MP331), MP448, MP539 and MP 645.
  • the present invention further provides for a polynucleic acid containing a polynucleic acid sequence encoding at least part of the Vif, Pol, Vpr, Tat (1st exon), Vpu, Rev (1st exon) or gpl ⁇ O antigens from any of the following HIV-1 group O strains of the invention: MP340, FABA(MP331), MP450, MP448, 189, MP539, 320, BSD422, KGT008, MP575, BSD189, BSD649, BSD242, 533,
  • Vif, Pol, Vpr, Tat (1st exon), Vpu, Rev (1st exon) and gpl60 are terms for HIV-antigens familiar to the person skilled in the art.
  • Vif and Vpu have important roles during virion morphogenesis. Vif is required for the production of fully infectious viruses, while Vpu is necessary for the efficient release of virus particles budding from the cell membrane in cultured cells (G ⁇ ttlinger et al, 1993). Vpu also mediates the rapid degradation of the CD4 receptor molecule in the endoplasmatic reticulum (Willey et al, 1992; Bour et al, 1995).
  • the Vpr protein is involved in the nuclear migration of the prointegration complex (Heinzinger et al, 1994) and is also found in mature virions and hence a structural component of the virus (Paxton et al, 1993).
  • Tat (transactivator) and Rev (regulator of virion expression) are encoded in overlapping reading frames which generate small regulatory proteins translated from multiple spliced mRNAs (Salfeld et al, 1990; Solomin et al, 1990; Furtado et al, 1991). Both proteins are essential for virus replication and are positive regulators of gene expression (Arya et al, 1985; Feinberg et al, 1986).
  • Pol is encoded by the coding gene pol , which overlaps with the gag information but in a different reading frame.
  • Pol is a precursor protein which is autocleaved to form the following viral enzymes: a protease, a reverse transcriptase with polymerase activity and Rnase H activity, and an integrase (Ross et al, 1991).
  • Figure 8 illustrates the sequence of a large genomic fragment from a number of HIV-1 group O strains of the current invention (MP645 (SEQ ID NO 106), MP331 (SEQ ID NO 103), MP448 (SEQ ID NO 104) and MP539(SEQ ID NO 105)), and the location of the Vif, Pol, Vpr, Tat (1st exon), Vpu, Rev (1st exon) and gpl60 (partially) genes in these sequences.
  • MP645 SEQ ID NO 106
  • MP331 SEQ ID NO 103
  • MP448 SEQ ID NO 10448
  • MP539 SEQ ID NO 10539
  • the present invention thus provides for a polynucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence chosen from the group of
  • ( ⁇ i) a nucleotide sequence showing at least 95%, preferably 96%, 97%, 98% and most preferably
  • nucleotide sequence represented by any of SEQ ro NO 103, SEQ ID NO 104, SEQ ro NO 105, SEQ ID NO 106, or (ii) a nucleotide sequence complementary to a sequence according to (I), or ( ⁇ i) a nucleotide sequence showing at least 95%, preferably 96%, 97%, 98% and most preferably 99% homology to a sequence according to (I), or (iv) a nucleotide sequence according to (I) whereby T is replaced by U, or (v) a nucleotide sequence according to (I) whereby at least one nucleotide is substituted by a nucleotide analogue
  • the above-described nucleic acid fragment may be used as a specific hybridization probe for the detection of the nucleic acids of the current invention.
  • selective hybridizing means that the hybridization signal obtained after hybridization of the fragment with the nucleic acid from which it is derived, is more intense than the hybridization signal obtained when the fragment is hybridized to the corresponding nucleic acid from another HIV-1 group O strain, under the same stringent hybridization and wash conditions. In practice this means that the nucleic acid fragment will show at least one mismatched nucleotide with the sequence of the corresponding nucleic acid fragment of another HIV- 1 group
  • the nucleic acid fragment as described above may also be used as a specific amplification primer of the nucleic acids of the current invention.
  • selective amplification refers to the fact that said nucleic acid fragment may initiate a specific amplification reaction of the nucleic acids of the invention (e.g. a polymerase chain reaction) in the presence of other nucleic acids, under appropriate amplification conditions. It means that, under the appropriate amplification conditions, only the nucleic acids of the invention will be amplified, and not the other nucleic acids possibly present.
  • Preferred embodiments of the invention comprise polynucleic acids or fragments thereof as specified below.
  • a polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 103 or comprising a fragment consisting of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, up to 50 contiguous nucleotides of said polynucleic acid, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 103.
  • a polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 104 or comprising a fragment consisting of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, up to 50 contiguous nucleotides of said polynucleic acid, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO 104.
  • a polynucleic acid comprising SEQ LD NO 105 or comprising a fragment consisting of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, up to 50 contiguous nucleotides of said polynucleic acid, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid comprising SEQ LD NO 105.
  • a polynucleic acid comprising SEQ LD NO 106 or comprising a fragment consisting of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, up to 50 contiguous nucleotides of said polynucleic acid, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively hybridizes to the polynucleic acid comprising SEQ LD NO 106.
  • Apolynucleic acid fragment consisting of a sequence of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18,
  • Apolynucleic acid fragment consisting of a sequence of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18,
  • Apolynucleic acid fragment consisting of a sequence of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, up to 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ED NO 105, said fragment characterized by the fact that it selectively amplifies the polynucleic acid from which it is derived.
  • Apolynucleic acid fragment consisting of a sequence of at least 15, preferably 16, 17, 18,
  • the invention further provides for an antigen comprising at least part of Vif, Pol, Vpr, Tat
  • the current invention more particularly provides for an antigen comprising at least one amino acid sequence chosen from the following groups of sequences
  • SEQ ID NO 8 SEQ ID NO 10
  • SEQ ID NO 12 SEQ ID NO 14
  • SEQ ID NO 16 SEQ ID NO 18
  • SEQ ID NO 20 SEQ ro NO 22
  • SEQ ID NO 24 SEQ ID NO 26
  • SEQ ID NO 28 SEQ ID NO
  • SEQ ID NO 30 SEQ ID NO 32, SEQ ID NO 34, SEQ ID NO 36, SEQ ID NO 38, SEQ ID NO 40, SEQ ro NO 42, SEQ HD NO 44, SEQ ID NO 46, SEQ ID NO 48, SEQ ro NO 50, SEQ ID NO 52,
  • SEQ ED NO 132 and SEQ ID NO 134 representing at least part of the Env antigen, or
  • the current invention further provides for an antigen consisting of an amino acid sequence chosen from the following groups of sequences: Ii) an amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO 107, SEQ ID NO 108, SEQ ID NO 109 and SEQ ID NO
  • SEQ ED NO 132, and SEQ ED NO 134 representing at least part of the Env antigen, or (vi ⁇ ) a fragment of any of the above-mentioned antigens (I) to (vii), said fragment consisting of at least 8, preferably 9, 10, 11,12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 50 up to the maximum number of contiguous amino acids of the amino acid sequence of said antigen, and being characterized by the fact that it specifically reacts with antibodies raised against said antigen.
  • the current invention thus also relates to:
  • an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain MP340 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 2, 4, 42,59, 60, 61, 73, 85, 86, 100, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • ( ⁇ ) a polynucleic acid encoding an antigen according to (I) and comprising at least one of the nucleotide sequences according to SEQ ID NO 1, 3, 41, including homologous sequences, complementary sequences, and fragments hybridizing thereto;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome a polynucleic acid according to (ii), more particularly a virus strain termed MP340, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to:
  • an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain MP331 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 6, 8, 44, 56, 57, 58, 82, 83, 84, 138 or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • an antigen derived from the Vif, Vpu, Vpr, Tat, Rev, Pol and Env protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain MP331 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ED NO 107, 111, 115, 119, 123, 127, 131, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome said a polynucleic acid according to (iii), more particularly a virus strain termed MP331 (FAB A) deposited at the ECACC under accession number V97061301, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to:
  • an antigen derived from the gpl60 env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain MP450 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 10, 12, 46, 62, 63, 64, 73, 87, 100, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • a polynucleic acid encoding an antigen according to (I) and comprising at least one of the nucleotide sequences according to SEQ ID NO 9, 11, 45, including homologous sequences, complementary sequences, and fragments hybridizing thereto;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome a polynucleic acid according to (ii) , more particularly a virus strain termed MP450 deposited at the ECACC under accession number
  • V97061302 as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to:
  • an antigen derived from the gpl60 env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain MP448 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 14, 16, 48, 65, 66, 67, 76, 88, 101, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • an antigen derived from the Vif, Vpu, Vpr, Tat, Rev, Pol and Env protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain MP448 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome said polynucleic acid according to (iii), more particularly a virus strain termed MP448, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to: (I) an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain 189 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 18, 50, 53, 54, 55, 73, 90, 91, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • a polynucleic acid encoding an antigen according to (I) and comprising at least one of the nucleotide sequences according to SEQ ID NO 17, 49, including homologous sequences, complementary sequences, and fragments hybridizing thereto;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome a polynucleic acid according to (ii), more particularly a virus strain termed 189, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to:
  • an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain MP539 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 40, 52, 68, 69, 70, 71, 89, 95 or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • a polynucleic acid encoding an antigen according to (I) or (ii) and comprising at least one of the nucleic acid sequences according to SEQ ID NO 39, 51, 105, including homologous sequences, complementary sequences, and fragments hybridizing thereto;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome said polynucleic acid according to (iii), more particularly a virus strain deposited at the ECACC under accession number V97061303, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to: (I) an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain 320 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 20, 92, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome a polynucleic acid according to (ii), more particularly a virus strain termed 320, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to: (I) an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain BSD422 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 22, 80, 79, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • a polynucleic acid encoding an antigen according to (I) and comprising the nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO 21 including homologous sequences, complementary sequences, and fragments hybridizing thereto;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome a polynucleic acid according to (ii), more particularly a virus strain termed BSD422, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to:
  • an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain KGT008 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ED NO 24, 79, 99? or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • a polynucleic acid encoding an antigen according to (I) and comprising the nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO 23 including homologous sequences, complementary sequences, and fragments hybridizing thereto;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome a polynucleic acid according to (ii), more particularly a virus strain termed KGT008, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to: (I) an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain MP575 comprising the sequence according to SEQ ID NO 26, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • (iii)A virus strain comprising in its genome said polynucleic acid according to (ii),more particularly a virus strain deposited at the ECACC under provisional accession number V98071301, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to: (I) an antigen derived from the gpl60 env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain BSD 189 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 28, 72, 95, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome a polynucleic acid according to (ii), more particularly a virus strain termed BSD 189, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to:
  • an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain BSD649 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 30, 77, 98, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome a polynucleic acid according to (ii), more particularly a virus strain termed BSD649, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to:
  • an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 stram BSD242 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 32, 81, 96, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome a polynucleic acid according to (ii), more particularly a virus strain termed BSD242, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to: (I) an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain 533 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ED NO 34, 81, 93, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome a polynucleic acid according to (ii), more particularly a virus strain termed 533, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to: (I) an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain 772P94 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 36, 75, 94, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from; ( ⁇ ) a polynucleic acid encoding an antigen according to (I) and comprising the nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO 35 including homologous sequences, complementary sequences, and fragments hybridizing thereto;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome a polynucleic acid according to (ii), more particularly a virus strain termed 772P94, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to:
  • an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain MP95B comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 38, 74, 102, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome a polynucleic acid according to (ii), more particularly a virus strain termed MP95B, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the current invention thus also relates to:
  • an antigen derived from the gpl ⁇ O env precursor protein of the new HIV-1 group 0 strain MP645 comprising at least one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 135, 136, 137, or fragments thereof with said fragments specifically reacting with antibodies raised against the antigen they are derived from;
  • HIV-1 group 0 strain MP645 comprising one of the sequences according to SEQ ID NO 110,
  • a virus strain comprising in its genome said polynucleic acid according to (iii),more particularly a virus strain deposited at the ECACC under provisional accession number V98071302, as well as polynucleic acids and antigens isolated therefrom.
  • the invention provides for an antibody, preferably a monoclonal antibody, raised against an antigen or antigen fragment as described above.
  • an antibody preferably a monoclonal antibody, raised against an antigen or antigen fragment as described above.
  • Such an antibody recognizes specifically the antigen or the antigen fragment to which it has been raised.
  • the present invention also relates to an antigen- binding fragment of the antibody, said fragment being of the F(ab') 2 , Fab or single chain Fv type, or any type of recombinant antibody derived from said specific antibodies or monoclonal antibodies, provided that said antibody fragment or recombinant antibody still recognizes specifically the antigen or antigen fragment to which it has been raised.
  • antibody recognizing specifically means that the binding between the antigen as a ligand and a molecule containing an antibody combining site, such as a Fab portion of a whole antibody, is specific, signifying that no cross-reaction occurs.
  • antibody specifically raised against a compound means that the sole immunogen used to produce said antibody was said compound.
  • polyclonal antisera may be eliminated by preabsorption of the polyclonal antiserum against the cross-reacting antigenic determinants.
  • the above-mentioned antibodies are neutralizing antibodies, i.e. antibodies capable of in vitro inhibition of viral growth, determined according to methods known in the art.
  • Neutralizing antibodies may be used as a reagent in a so-called "passive vaccine” composition, i.e. a composition conferring temporary protection against an infection, upon injection hi an individual.
  • the invention also relates to passive vaccine compositions, comprising any of the above-mentioned neutralizing antibodies.
  • the monoclonal antibodies of the invention can be produced by any hybridoma liable to be formed accordmg to classical methods from splenic cells of an animal, particularly of a mouse or rat, immunized with the antigen of the invention, defined above on the one hand, and of cells of a myeloma cell line on the other hand, and to be selected by the ability of the hybridoma to produce the monoclonal antibodies recognizing the antigen which has been initially used for the immunization of the animals.
  • the monoclonal antibodies according to a preferred embodiment of the invention may be humanized versions of the mouse monoclonal antibodies made by means of recombinant DNA technology, departing from the mouse and/or human genomic DNA sequences coding for H and
  • fragments derived from these monoclonal antibodies such as Fab, F(ab)' 2 and ssFv (“single chain variable fragment"), providing they have retained the original binding properties, form part of the present invention.
  • Such fragments are commonly generated by, for instance, enzymatic digestion of the antibodies with papain, pepsin, or other proteases. It is well known to the person skilled in the art that monoclonal antibodies, or fragments thereof, can be modified for various uses.
  • the antibodies involved in the invention can be labelled by an appropriate label of the enzymatic, fluorescent, or radioactive type.
  • the invention also relates to the use of the antigens of the invention, or fragments thereof, for the selection of recombinant antibodies by the process of repertoire cloning (Perrson et al., 1991).
  • anti-idiotype antibodies refers to monoclonal antibodies raised against the antigenic determinants of the variable region of monoclonal antibodies themselves raised against the antigens of the invention. These antigenic determinants of immunoglobulins are known as idiotypes (sets of idiotopes) and can therefore be considered to be the "fingerprint" of an antibody (for review see de Preval, 1978; Fleishmann and Davie,1984).
  • idiotypes sets of idiotopes
  • Monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibodies have the property of forming an immunological complex with the idiotype of the monoclonal antibody against which they were raised.
  • the monoclonal antibody is often referred to as Abl
  • the anti-idiotypic antibody is referred to as Ab2.
  • These anti-idiotype Ab2s may be used as substitutes for the polypeptides of the invention or as competitors for binding of the polypeptides of the invention to their target.
  • the present invention further relates to antisense peptides derived from the antigens of the invention as described above.
  • antisense peptide is reviewed by Blalock (1990) and by Roubos (1990).
  • the molecular recognition theory (Blalock, 1990) states that not only the complementary nucleic acid sequences interact but that, in addition, interacting sites in proteins are composed of complementary amino acid sequences (sense ligand with receptor or sense ligand with antisense peptides).
  • two peptides derived from complementary nucleic acid sequences in the same reading frame will show a total interchange of their hydrophobic and hydrophilic amino acids when the amino terminus of one is aligned with the carboxy terminus of the other. This inverted hydropathic pattern might allow two such peptides to assume complementary conformations responsible for specific interaction.
  • the antisense peptides can be prepared as described in Ghiso et al. (1990). By means of this technology it is possible to logically construct a peptide having a physiologically relevant interaction with a known peptide by simple nucleotide sequence analysis for complementarity, and synthesize the peptide complementary to the binding site.
  • the present invention further relates to a diagnostic method for detecting the presence of an HIV-1 infection, said method comprising
  • HIV-1 group O the detection of viral antigen originating from HIV-1, including HIV-1 group O, using any of the antibodies of the invention as described above and/or
  • the above-mentioned diagnostic method for detecting the presence of an HIV-1 infection also includes the detection of an HIV-1 group O infection, and more particularly also includes the detection of an infection caused by any of the HIV-1 group O strains of the current invention.
  • biological sample refers to any biological sample (tissue or fluid) possibly containing HIV nucleic acids, and/or HIV antigens and/or antibodies against HIV, and refers more particularly to blood, serum, plasma, organs or tissue samples.
  • the addition of the HIV-1 type O reagents of the current invention to methods and kits for detection of HIV-infection in general, may result in methods and kits showing - a higher sensitivity, and/or
  • HIV-1 group M a higher discriminating power between different types of HIV-infection, for example HIV-1 group M, HIV-1 group O and HIV-2 infection.
  • sensitivity refers to the ratio of positively reacting samples/the number of truly infected samples. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for in vitro diagnosis of a
  • HTV-l infection including a HIV-1 group O infection
  • a biological sample comprising at least the step of contacting a biological sample with: a HTV-l group O antigen, or antigen fragment, as defined above, under conditions allowing the formation of an immunological complex, and/or, - a HTV-l group O nucleic acid, or nucleic acid fragment, as defined above, under conditions allowing the formation of a hybridization complex, with the nucleic acids of said sample being possibly amplified prior to hybridization, and/or, an antibody specifically directed against an HIV-1 group O antigen as defined above, under conditions allowing the formation of an immunological complex, and/or, an anti-idiotype antibody as defined above, under conditions allowing the formation of an antibody-anti-idiotypic complex, and/or, an antisense peptide as defined above, under conditions allowing the formation of an antigen-antisense peptide complex, and subsequently detecting the complexes formed.
  • the invention relates to a method for detecting the presence of antibodies against HIV-1 in a biological sample, in particular antibodies against an HIV-1 group O strain, preferably a serum sample, comprising the following steps:
  • antigens being used in the above-described method for detection of anti-HIV-1 group O antibodies can be replaced by anti-idiotype antibodies as described above, acting as their equivalents.
  • the invention further relates to a method for detecting the presence of an antigen or an antigen fragment of HIV-1, in particular an antigen or antigen fragment of an HIV-1 group O strain, in a biological sample comprising the following steps:
  • the antibodies being used in the above-described method for detection of HTV-l group O antigens maybe replaced by anti-sense peptides as described above, acting as their equivalents. Conditions allowing the formation of an antigen-antisense peptide complex are known in the art.
  • Protocols may, for example, use solid supports, or immunoprecipitation.
  • Most assays involve the use of labelled antibody or polypeptide; the labels may be, for example, enzymatic, fluorescent, chemoluminescent, radioactive, or dye molecules.
  • Assays which amplify the signals from the immune complex are also known, examples of which are assays which utilize biotin and avidin or streptavidin, and enzyme-labelled and mediated immunoassays, such as
  • An advantageous embodiment provides for a method for detection of anti-HIV-1 group O antibodies in a sample, whereby the antigens or antigen fragments of the invention are immobilized on a solid support, for example on a membrane strip. Different antigens or antigen fragments of the invention may be immobilized together or next to each other (e.g. in the form of parallel lines).
  • the antigens of the invention may also be combined with other antigens, e.g. antigens from other HIV-1 group O strains, or from HIV-1 group M or from HIV-2 strains.
  • the invention thus also relates to a solid support onto which the antigens of the invention, possibly in combination with other antigens, have been immobilized.
  • Another embodiment of the invention provides for a method for detecting the presence of HIV-1 nucleic acids, including HIV-1 group O nucleic acids, in a biological sample, comprising:
  • a suitable primer pair refers to a pair of primers allowing the amplification of the target region to which the probes of the current invention hybridize.
  • the primer sequences may be chosen such that they amplify specifically the nucleic acids of the current invention, or, on the other hand, it may be preferred to obtain a more general amplification, e.g. of all or nearly all HIV-1 group O sequences, or of all or nearly all HIV-1 sequences, and even HIV-2 sequences.
  • the following pair of primers may be used to amplify part of the gp41 region: 5'- GGGTTCTTGGGAGCAGCAGGAAGCACTATGGGCG-3' (SEQ ID NO 139), and
  • the invention also relates to a method for genotyping HIV-1 or HIV-1 type O strains, comprising the following steps:
  • genotyping refers to the typing of HIV- strains according to the sequence of their nucleic acids. Depending on the application, it may be the intention of a genotyping assay to differentiate between large groups of HIV-strains (e.g. HIV-1 group M; HIV-1 group O or
  • HTV-l group O may also be accomplished using the nucleic acids of the current invention.
  • the probes used should be hybridized at their appropriate temperature in order to attain sufficient specificity (in some cases differences at the level of one nucleotide mutation are to be discriminated).
  • Amplification of nucleic acids present in a sample prior to detection in vitro may be accomplished by first extracting the nucleic acids present in the sample according to any of the techniques known in the art, and second, amplifying the target nucleic acid by any amplification method as specified above. In case of extraction of RNA, generation of cDNA is necessary; otherwise cDNA or genomic DNA is extracted.
  • labelled refers to the use of labelled nucleic acids. This may include the use of labelled nucleotides incorporated during the polymerase step of the amplification such as illustrated by Saiki et al. (1988) or Bej et al. (1990) or labelled primers, or by any other method known to the person skilled in the art. Labels may be isotopic ( 32 P, 35 S, etc.) or non-isotopic (biotin, digoxigenin, etc.).
  • Suitable assay methods for purposes of the present invention to detect hybrids formed between oligonucleotide probes according to the invention and the nucleic acid sequences in a sample may comprise any of the assay formats known in the art.
  • the detection can be accomplished using a dot blot format, the unlabelled amplified sample being bound to a membrane, the membrane being incubated with at least one labelled probe under suitable hybridization and wash conditions, and the presence of bound probe being monitored.
  • Probes can be labelled with radioisotopes or with labels allowing chromogenic or chemiluminescent detection such as horse-radish peroxidase coupled probes.
  • An alternative is a "reverse" dot-blot format, in which the amplified sequence contains a label.
  • the unlabelled oligonucleotide probes are bound to a solid support and exposed to the labelled sample under appropriate stringent hybridization and subsequent washing conditions. It is to be understood that also any other assay method which relies on the formation of a hybrid between the nucleic acids of the sample and the oligonucleotide probes according to the present invention may be used.
  • the process of detecting HIV-1 type O nucleic acids contained in a biological sample comprises the steps of contacting amplified copies of the nucleic acids present in the sample, with a solid support on which probes as defined above, have been previously immobilized.
  • the amplified nucleic acids are labelled in order to subsequently detect hybridization.
  • the probes have been immobilized on a membrane strip in the form of parallel lines.
  • This type of reverse hybridization method is specified further as a Line Probe Assay (LiPA), and has been described more extensively in for example WO 94/12670.
  • the invention thus also relates to a solid support onto which the nucleic acids of the invention have been immobilized.
  • the invention also provides for a composition comprising at least one of the antigens or antigen fragments as above described, and/or at least one of the nucleic acids or nucleic acid fragments as above described, and/or an antibody as above described.
  • compositions may be e.g. a diagnostic kit, an immunogenic composition, e.a.
  • the invention provides for a kit for the detection of the presence of an HIV- 1 infection, comprising at least one of the antigens or antigen fragments as described above and/or at least one of the nucleic acids or nucleic acid fragments as described above and/or an antibody as described above.
  • the current invention provides for a diagnostic kit for determining the presence of HIV-1 nucleic acids, including HIV-1 type O nucleic acids, in a biological sample, said kit comprising at least one nucleic acid fragment as described above.
  • This nucleic acid fragment may be used as a primer or a probe in said kit.
  • the current invention provides for a kit for genotyping HIV-1 strains, including HTV-l type O strains, in a biological sample, said kit comprising at least one nucleic acid fragment as described above. This nucleic acid fragment may be used as a primer or a probe in said kit.
  • the present invention also provides for a kit for determining the presence of anti-(HTV-l type O) antibodies present in a biological sample, comprising at least one antigen or antigen fragment as described above.
  • the present invention provides for a kit for determining the presence of HTV-
  • the current invention also provides for a vaccine composition which provides protective immunity against HIV-1 infection, in particular against HIV-1 group O infection, comprising as an active principle at least one antigen or antigen fragment as described above, or at least one nucleic acid as described above, or a virus like particle (VLP) comprising at least one antigen or antigen fragment as described above, or an attenuated form of at least one of the HJV-1 type O strains as described above, said active principle being combined with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
  • VLP virus like particle
  • polynucleic acid sequences coding for any of the antigens or antigen fragments as defined above are used as a vaccine, either as naked DNA or as part of recombinant vectors. In this case, it is the aim that said nucleic acids are expressed into immunogenic protein / peptide and thus confer in vivo protection to the vaccinated host (e.g.
  • the active ingredients of such a vaccine composition may be administered orally, subcutaneously, conjunctivally, intramuscularly, intra nasally, or via any other route known in the art including for instance via the binding to carriers, via incorporation into liposomes, by adding adjuvants known in the art, etc.
  • Figure 1 Amino acid alignment of gp41 sequences from the HIV-1 group O strains of the current invention, compared to gp41 sequences from some known prototype HTV-l group O strains (Ant70, MVP5180, VAU: boxed). If the name of a strain is followed by -P or -PBMC, it means that the sequence was performed on strains present in peripheral blood monocytes samples, in stead of serum samples. Asteriks show perfectly conserved amino acids. Dots show well conserved amino acids. Dashes refer to gaps introduced to maximize the alignment.
  • the immunodominant domain is underlined and within this domain the dashed line indicates the immunosuppressive peptide (ISU) and the dotted line indicates the principal immunodominant domain (PID) by analogy to HIV-1 group M viruses.
  • ISU immunosuppressive peptide
  • PID principal immunodominant domain
  • FIG. 1 Amino acid alignment of C2V3 sequences originating from some of the HIV-1 group O strains of the current invention (189, FABA, MP340, MP450, MP448, MP539), compared to C2V3 sequences from some known prototype HIV-1 group O strains (Ant70, MVP5180 and
  • VAU boxed). Asteriks show perfectly conserved amino acids. Dots show well conserved amino acids. Dashes refer to gaps introduced to maximize the alignment. The symbol + indicates the two conserved cysteine residues flanking the V3 loop region.
  • FIG. 3 Nucleic acid alignment of gp41 sequences originating from the HIV-1 group O strains of the current invention, compared to gp41 sequences from some known prototype HIV-1 group O strains (Ant70, MVP5180, VAU and VI686: in bold). Asteriks show positions of conserved nucleic acids. Dashes refer to gaps introduced to maximize alignment.
  • FIG. 4 Nucleic acid alignment of C2V3 sequences originating from some of the HIV-1 group O strains of the current invention (189, FABA MP340, MP448, MP450 and MP539), compared to C2V3 sequences from some known prototype HIV-1 group O strains (MVP5180, Ant70 and VI686: in bold). Asteriks show positions of conserved nucleic acids. Dashes refer to gaps introduced to maximize alignment.
  • FIG. 5 Phylogenetic tree analysis for the gp41-sequenced region of the new HIV-1 group O strains of the current invention, compared to the prototype HIV-1 group O strains (Ant70, MVP5180, VAU and VI686), HIV-1 group M strains (U455, Z2Z6 and MN), and SIVcpz- strains.
  • SIVcpz-ANT has been used as an "outgroup" for the analysis, and is therefore put between brackets [J.The viruses of the current invention are indicated in bold. Country of origin is mentioned between parentheses.
  • Phylogenetic relationships were determined using the neighbor joming method, as described in Materials and Methods. The numbers given at the branch points represent bootstrap values out of 100 obtained for the neigbor joining method.
  • Nucleic acid sequence SEQ ID NO 103 and the corresponding amino acid sequence translation of part of the genome of HIV-1 group O virus MP331 (FABA).
  • the corresponding polypeptides Pol (partially)(SEQ ID NO 127), Vif (SEQ ro NO 107), Vpr (SEQ ED NO 115), Tat (SEQ ED NO 119), Rev (SEQ ED NO 123), Vpu (SEQ ID NO 111) and Env (partially) (SEQ ID NO 131) are underlined and their corresponding name is indicated at the right of each open reading frame.
  • Nucleic acid sequence SEQ ID NO 104 and the corresponding amino acid sequence translation of part of the genome of HIV-1 group O virus MP448.
  • the corresponding polypeptides Pol (partially) (SEQ ID NO 128), Vif (SEQ ID NO 108), Vpr (SEQ ID NO 116), Tat (SEQ ID NO 120), Rev (SEQ ID NO 124), Vpu (SEQ ID NO 112) and Env (partially) (SEQ ID NO 132) are underlined and their corresponding name is indicated at the right of each open reading frame.
  • Tat (SEQ ID NO 121), Rev (SEQ ID NO 125), Vpu (SEQ ID NO 113) and Env (partially) (SEQ ED NO 133) are underlined and their corresponding name is indicated at the right of each open reading frame.
  • a total of 16 viruses have been characterized. Patients were identified as being infected with an HJV-1 group O virus using a specific serological testing algorithm, based on V3 peptides from different M and O strains (consensusM, M-Mal, O-ANT-70, O-VI686, O-MVP5180 (INNOLIA HIV-1 type O Research product, Innogenetics, Belgium), as described elsewhere (Peeters et al., in press). Ten patients were from Cameroon (BSD189,
  • BSD242, BSD422, BSD649, MP340, MP95B, MP448, MP575, MP539 and MP450), 2 from Gabon (189, 533) and the others from Tchaad (320), Nigeria (KGT008), Senegal (FABA 331) and Niger (772P94).
  • PBMCs peripheral blood mononuclear cells
  • Nucleic acid extraction DNA was extracted from PBMCs using the IsoQuick isolation kit (Microprobe Corp.,
  • the reverse transcription reaction was performed in a final volume of 20 ⁇ l, containing 50 mM TrisHCl pH 8.3, 50 mM KC1, 10 mM MgCl 2 , 10 mM DTT, 0.5 mM spermidine, 1 mM each deoxynucleoside triphophate, 0.5 ⁇ M outer reverse primer (41-4, see further) and 5 U of Avian Myeloblastosis Virus Reverse Transcriptase (Promega), for 30 min at 42°C. Five microliters from the RT reaction were used for PCR amplification.
  • Nested PCR was used to amplify a fragment of approximately 420bp from the gp41- region.
  • Outer primers allow amplification of HIV-1 sequences from group O and M (sense 41-1 : 5'- GGGTTCTTGGGAGCAGCAGGAAGCACTATGGGCG-3' (SEQ ID NO 139), antisense 41-4: 5'-TCTGAAACGACAGAGGTGAGTATCCCTGCCTAA-3' (SEQ ID NO
  • Inner primers were determined according to the HIV-l-Ant70 sequence (Vanden Haesevelde et al. 1994) (sense 41-6: 5'-TGGATCCCACAGTGTACTGAAGGGTATAGTGCA-3' (SEQ ID NO 141), antisense 41-7: 5'-CATTTAGTTATGTCAAGCCAATTCCAAA-3' (SEQ ED NO 142)). PCRs were performed in a final volume of 100 ⁇ l containing 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 9.0), 50 mM KC1, 1.5 mM MgC12, 0.2 mM each deoxynucleoside triphosphate, 2.5 U of
  • Taq DNA polymerase Promega
  • 0.4 ⁇ M of each primer After an initial denaturation step of 3 min at 94°C, 30 to 35 cycles were performed at 94°C for lmin to 20 s, 50°C for 1 min to 30 s, 72°C for 1 min, followed by a final extension of 10 to 7 min.
  • 1 to 5 ⁇ l of the first amplification were subjected to the same cycling conditions for 35 to 40 PCR cycles.
  • Amplification of the C2V3 -region was obtained by nested PCR using a set of primers selected from the HIV-l-Ant70 sequence.
  • Outer primers were: anti-sense V70-5 (5'- GTTCTCCATATATCTTTCATATCTCCCCCTA-3', SEQ ID NO 143) and sense V70-1 (5'- TTGTACACATGGCATTAGGCCAACAGTAAGT-3', SEQ ro NO 144) and inner primers were: sense V70-2 (5'-TGAATTCCTAATATTGAATGGGACACTCTCT-3 « , SEQ ID NO
  • V70-4 (5'-TGGATCCTACAATAAAAGAATTCTCCATGACA-3', SEQ HD NO 146). Amplification conditions were as described above.
  • Overlapping sequences were joined by using SeqEd-1.0 (Applied Biosystems, Inc). Sequences were aligned using CLUSTAL V (Higgins et al 1992; Higgins and Sharp 1988) program. Evolutionary distances were calculated by using the Kimura's two-parameters method with correction for the multiple substitutions and excluding positions with gaps in aligned sequences (Kimura 1983). Phylogenetic relationships were computed from the distance matrix by the neighbor-joining method (Saitou and Nei 1987). Phylogenetic analyses were also performed by a parsimony approach and implemented using DNAPARS. In both cases, reliability of the branching orders was confirmed by the bootstrap approach (Felsenstein 1985). Phylogenetic analyses were also performed for proteic sequences using PROTPARS.
  • Antigenicity of the ISU peptides have been calculated according to programs developed by Gamier et al (1978) and Gibrat et al (1987).
  • Phylogenetic trees were constructed with the 16 new sequences described here, the four group O strains of which the gp41 sequences have already been characterized, nl. Ant70 (Vanden Haesevelde et al. 1994), MVP5180 (G ⁇ rtler et al. 1994), VAU (Charneau et al.
  • new subclusters may appear, such as for example the subcluster consisting of strains MP340, 189 and MP450, which segregate with a bootstrap value of 100, or the subcluster consisting of strains MVP5180, 533, BSD242 (bootstrap value 98).
  • These subclusters may define different genotypes within group O in analogy to the different group M genotypes (clades).
  • Table 2 shows the percentage divergence between gp41 -nucleotide sequences originating from HIV-1 group O strains of the invention and known HIV-1 group O strains (Ant70, MVP5180, VAU and VI686).
  • Figure 1 depicts the alignment of the deduced gp41 amino acid sequences.
  • this region of the transmembrane glycoprotein is also highly conserved among group O viruses, especially for the region corresponding to the immunodominant region in group M isolates.
  • This region has been divided into two domains, corresponding to an immunosuppressive peptide (ISU-peptide) of 17 amino acids (aa) and to an immunodominant cysteine loop of 7 aa (Oldstone et al. 1991), also called the principal immunodominant domain (PED).
  • ISU-peptide immunosuppressive peptide
  • aa immunodominant cysteine loop of 7 aa
  • PED principal immunodominant domain
  • the consensus peptide from group O is quite divergent from the SIVcpz/group M peptide by the presence of an arginine (R, positively charged) in position 2 instead of a phenylalanine (Q, hydrophilic), a leucine (L) in position 5 and 8 instead of a valine (V), and a very different stretch TLIQN instead of RYLKD in position 10-14.
  • R positively charged
  • L leucine
  • V valine
  • TLIQN very different stretch TLIQN instead of RYLKD in position 10-14.
  • Figure 7B represents the predicted hydrophilicity/antigenicity plot and revealed the presence of a second peak at position 3 to 7 (ARLLA) for group O in addition to the peak at position 12 (L) conserved in group M/SIVcpz and group O viruses.
  • ARLLA second peak at position 3 to 7
  • L peak at position 12
  • Figure 7B represents the predicted hydrophilicity/antigenicity plot and revealed the presence of a second peak at position 3 to 7 (ARLLA) for group O in addition to the peak at position 12 (L) conserved in group M/SIVcpz and group O viruses.
  • the divergence of the ISU peptide between group O and M viruses may suggest different functionalities of the ISU peptide in both groups.
  • this ISU peptide has been shown to suppress a broad range of immune reactions such as the inhibition of IL-2-dependant and concanavaline A-induced proliferation of T lymphocytes (Denner et al. 1994; Ruegg et al. 1989) but also B lymph
  • the principal B-epitope of this ISU peptide has been mapped at the C-terminal end, centered around the leucine residue in position 12 for group M (Denner et al. 1994).
  • the data of figure 7 show a similar antigenicity peak for group O viruses but, in contrast to group M and SIVcpz, the presence of a second peak is observed towards the N-terminal part of this peptide.
  • antibody response against this region in HIV-1 group M infected individuals has been shown to be vigorous and independent of the stage of the disease (Cumming et al. 1990; Zwart et al. 1994).
  • group O viruses described here contain only three potential N-linked glycosylation sites whereas only a few strains contain four. Only the position of the first site is highly conserved (position 60 in the alignment) and the positions of the two or three other sites vary among the strains, in contrast to group M viruses.
  • Figure 2 depicts the alignment of the deduced C2V3 sequences of 6 of the HIV-1 group O strains of the invention as compared to known HIV-1 group O strains.
  • the delineation of the C2 and V3 region is according to Starcich et al. (1986) and Willey et al. (1986).
  • the C2 region belongs to the rather conserved regions which are important in protein folding and protein function.
  • the V3 region is one of the hypervariable regions, for which amino acid conservation between different HIV-1 isolates is below 50%. Hypervariable regions also contain short deletions or insertions (Myers et al. 1992).
  • the V3 -region of gpl20 also known as the principal neutralizing determinant (PND), contains a loop of 35 amino acids, formed by a cysteine-cysteine disulfide bridge.
  • the PND is implicated in several important biological functions, such as: 1. it determines the HIV-1 cell tropism (Hwang et al. 1991, Shioda et al. 1991) 2. it affects fusion (Feed et al. 1991) and viral virulence (Fouchier et al. 1992)
  • V3 domain of gpl20 may induce a protective immune response, has made this region of particular interest for vaccine research.
  • V3 region as a whole is hypervariable, there is a rather high sequence conservation in its tetrapeptide sequence Gly- Pro-Gly-Arg (GPGR) at the crown of the loop (LaRosa et al. 1990).
  • GGR Gly- Pro-Gly-Arg
  • This motif corresponds to the binding site of the neutralizing antibodies, and single amino acid changes within this epitope highly reduce antibody binding (Meloen et al. 1989).
  • the alignment in figure 2 shows that sequence variability within the V3 loop is high between the different HIV-1 group O strains, including those of the current invention.
  • These new sequences and more particularly the sequences represented by SEQ ID NO 53 to 70 and
  • the sequences of the nested primer sets were designed on HIV-1 nucleic acid sequences in conserved regions flanking the Vif and Vpu genes.
  • DNA from cultured and uncultured PBMCs was extracted using IsoQuick (Microprobe, Garden Cove, CA) according to the manufacturer instructions and quantified spectrophotometrically. Approximately 1 ⁇ g of DNA was used for a first round of amplification with an outer primer pair (VT 1, 5'
  • GGGTTTATTACAGGGACAGCAGAG 3' (SEQ ID NO 147) and VPU1, 5' GGTTGGGGTCTGTGGGTACACAGG 3') (SEQ ID NO 148) in a final volume of 100 ⁇ l of containing 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 9.0), 50 mM KCl, 1.5 mM MgCl 2 a 0.2 mM concentration of each deoxynucleoside triphosphate, 2.5 U of Taq DNA polymerase (Promega, Madison, WI), and a 0.4 ⁇ M concentration of each primer.
  • Sequencing of the amplified products was done directly after purification by TAE-low melting point agarose gel electrophoresis (Bibollet-Ruche et al, 1997) using an Applied Biosystems (Foster City, CA) 373 Stretch sequencer and a Dye-Deoxy terminator procedure (dye terminator cycle sequencing ready reaction, with AmpliTaq DNA polymerase; Perkin-Elmer. Norwalk, CT) as specified by the manufacturer.
  • PCR primers ⁇ TF2 and VPU2
  • PCR primers ⁇ TF2 and VPU2
  • OVIF 5' CATATTGGGGATTGATGCCAG 3'
  • Overlapping sequences were joined using SeqEd (Applied Biosystems) to obtain the full-length sequence. Direct sequencing was performed on PCR-generated fragments. Ambiguities observed at a limited number of positions in some sequences were resolved when joining the overlapping fragments.
  • Figure 8 A shows the sequences of HIV-1 group O strain MP645 which was obtained following a similar approach as the one described above for MP448, MP539 and MP331.
  • the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Vpu protein specifically binds to the cytoplasmic domein of CD4: implication for the mechanism of degradation. J.
  • Cyclophilin A is required for the replication of group M human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and simian immunodeficiency virus SIVcpzGAB but not group O HIV-1 or other primate immunodeficiency viruses. J. Virol.
  • HTLVIII expression and production involve complex regulation at the levels of splicing and translation of viral RNA. Cell 46: 807-817.
  • Vpu protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 enhances the release of capsids produced by gag gene constructs of widely divergent retroviruses. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90: 7381-7385.
  • Vpr protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 influences nuclear localization of viral nucleic acids in nondividing host cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 91: 7311-7315.
  • CLUSTAL a package for performing multiple sequence alignment on a microcomputer. Gene 73:237-244.
  • the neighbor-joining method a new method for reconstmcting
  • HIV-1 gp41 regions of HIV-1 gp41 defined by syncitia-inhibiting affinity-purified human antibodies. AIDS 7: 167-174.
  • thermostable ligase Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88: 189-193.
  • HIV-1 seroconverters with rapid versus slow disease progression HIV-1 seroconverters with rapid versus slow disease progression.

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Abstract

L'invention concerne de nouveaux antigènes du groupe O du VIH-1, de nouveaux acides nucléiques les codant et l'utilisation desdits antigènes et/ou acides nucléiques en tant que réactifs dans le diagnostic et la prévention du SIDA. L'invention concerne aussi de nouvelles souches du groupe O du VIH-1 comprenant ces antigènes.
PCT/EP1998/004522 1997-07-18 1998-07-20 Antigenes du groupe o du vih-1 et leurs utilisations WO1999004011A2 (fr)

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CA002296442A CA2296442A1 (fr) 1997-07-18 1998-07-20 Antigenes du groupe o du vih-1 et leurs utilisations
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WO1999062945A2 (fr) * 1998-06-05 1999-12-09 Peptide Solutions, Inc. Peptides universels
EP1069190A2 (fr) * 1999-07-16 2001-01-17 Shimadzu Corporation Procédé pour l'amplification de l'ARN
US7838001B2 (en) 1997-04-09 2010-11-23 Bio-Rad Pasteur Synthetic peptides useful in biological essays for detecting infections caused by group O HIV-1 viruses
US8575324B2 (en) * 1999-02-03 2013-11-05 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Department Of Health And Human Services, Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Methods and reagents for molecular detection of HIV-1 groups M, N and O
US20190093181A1 (en) * 2014-11-06 2019-03-28 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary, Dept. Of Health And Human Services Detection of hiv-1 nucleic acids by reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification

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AU2011230619C1 (en) 2010-03-25 2016-06-23 Oregon Health & Science University CMV glycoproteins and recombinant vectors
DK2691530T3 (en) 2011-06-10 2018-05-22 Univ Oregon Health & Science CMV GLYCOPROTEIN AND RECOMBINANT VECTORS
US20130189754A1 (en) 2011-09-12 2013-07-25 International Aids Vaccine Initiative Immunoselection of recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus expressing hiv-1 proteins by broadly neutralizing antibodies
US9402894B2 (en) 2011-10-27 2016-08-02 International Aids Vaccine Initiative Viral particles derived from an enveloped virus
EP2679596B1 (fr) 2012-06-27 2017-04-12 International Aids Vaccine Initiative Variante de la protéine env du VIH-1
EP2848937A1 (fr) 2013-09-05 2015-03-18 International Aids Vaccine Initiative Procédés d'identification de nouveaux immunogènes du VIH-1
US10058604B2 (en) 2013-10-07 2018-08-28 International Aids Vaccine Initiative Soluble HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein trimers
US10174292B2 (en) 2015-03-20 2019-01-08 International Aids Vaccine Initiative Soluble HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein trimers
US9931394B2 (en) 2015-03-23 2018-04-03 International Aids Vaccine Initiative Soluble HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein trimers

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US7838001B2 (en) 1997-04-09 2010-11-23 Bio-Rad Pasteur Synthetic peptides useful in biological essays for detecting infections caused by group O HIV-1 viruses
WO1999062945A2 (fr) * 1998-06-05 1999-12-09 Peptide Solutions, Inc. Peptides universels
WO1999062945A3 (fr) * 1998-06-05 2000-06-29 Peptide Solutions Inc Peptides universels
US8575324B2 (en) * 1999-02-03 2013-11-05 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Department Of Health And Human Services, Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Methods and reagents for molecular detection of HIV-1 groups M, N and O
EP1069190A2 (fr) * 1999-07-16 2001-01-17 Shimadzu Corporation Procédé pour l'amplification de l'ARN
EP1069190A3 (fr) * 1999-07-16 2002-07-17 Shimadzu Corporation Procédé pour l'amplification de l'ARN
US20190093181A1 (en) * 2014-11-06 2019-03-28 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary, Dept. Of Health And Human Services Detection of hiv-1 nucleic acids by reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification
US10697028B2 (en) * 2014-11-06 2020-06-30 The United States Of America, As Represented By The Secretary, Department Of Health And Human Services Detection of HIV-1 nucleic acids by reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification

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